When it comes to carpet vs. hardwood flooring for your home, each has benefits. But what are they? And which increases the value of your home more?

Is there a way you can benefit from having both surfaces in your home?

The truth is, both carpet and hardwood have their own benefits and characteristics that make them valuable. It’s up to you to determine the needs of your environment and choose accordingly. But that can be difficult, especially if this is new for you.

We tried to make it easy for you by laying out the benefits of both carpet and hardwood flooring in this article.

Once you know how each material works, you will be able to make a more informed choice about carpet and hardwood flooring. This, along with other advice for home sellers, will set you on the path to maximizing the value of your home.

Benefits of Carpet

Carpet is an attractive choice for your home for several reasons. Let’s look at a few of them.

Softness & Comfort

As you already know, carpet has a much softer feel on your feet compared to carpet. In a room like a bedroom or family room, this could be a desirable thing to have. You may also want it in a child’s room, but keep in mind that choosing the right flooring for their room should weigh a couple factors, which we’ll talk about soon.

The truth is, carpet flooring is just more comfortable. That’s a benefit to keep in mind.

Warmth

As we talked about before, the environment plays a factor in your flooring choice. If you live somewhere that gets chilly in the winter, for example, the carpet will keep your home warmer.

Especially if you will be standing or have your feet on the ground for a long time in the room you’re thinking of, this may be a reason to replace carpet with hardwood.

Safety

If you have kids, you know they are prone to falling down. Having a soft landing is a benefit of carpet that hardwood cannot offer. In this way, carpet is much more kid-friendly. And for the parents, it also offers a bit of a “sound buffer” from kids making noise, too. The material is going to be much quieter as compared to hardwood.

Cheaper

Your budget could help you decide whether to go with carpet or hardwood. Carpet is much cheaper, costing about $3-5 per square foot as compared to $9-12 for hardwood flooring.

Benefits of Hardwood

Now that we’ve looked at the benefits of carpet, let’s take a look at what hardwood can do for your home.

Long Lasting & Valuable

One of the major benefits of hardwood flooring is that it can last for decades.

We mentioned earlier that carpet is cheaper, but the resale value and long-lasting nature of hardwood floors vs. carpet paints a different picture. If you only have to install it one time as opposed to installing several new carpets over the years, it may actually pay for itself.

Easy to Clean

You’ve probably spent enough time cleaning carpets over the years to know the benefits of having hardwood floors when it comes to cleaning them. Once the stain soaks in, it’s an easy surface to wipe down, and it’s difficult for dust and other things to get stuck in it if you keep it clean regularly.

The added benefit here is that there will also be fewer allergens in your home. Carpet tends to hang onto things like dust, which can be a problem for some people.

Lots of Options

It’s just true that, with carpet, you may have to do a lot of looking to find something that fits. Because hardwood floors have more of a “command” when compared to carpet, you can increase the value of your home and still choose something you really like. Since hardwood is seen as prestigious or luxurious to potential home buyers, you are given more flexibility.

For example, Tim Hogan’s Dalton GA Carpet Outlet offers countless flooring products you can choose from.

Value

The truth is, people want hardwood floors. According to HGTV, 54% of home buyers are willing to pay more if it comes with hardwood flooring. People believe in the timeless value of hardwood floors, especially because styles have changed over the last few hundred years, but they continue to install them.

Even if you don’t go with the most expensive wood, you will still increase the value of your home. This is something to keep in mind as you make your choice because carpet will not be as big of an appeal to some potential buyers.

A Compromise

As we wrap up, here’s some food for thought. Perhaps you want to increase the value of your home but also have the benefits of comfortable, soft floors. In this case, you might consider going with hardwood floor installation, then adding area rugs over the top.

This way, your home increases in value, and you can still soundproof and add comfort to the house while you live in it. A win-win in our books!

Carpet vs. Hardwood – Which Should You Go With?

When it comes to the debate over carpet vs. hardwood, there are several variables to take into account. The truth is, there are benefits to each, so you need to simply consider what your goals are. Do you want to go for comfort or style? Are you thinking about the long-term value of your home or upgrading for selling down the road?

If you are set on comfort, it’s probably best to go with carpet. Increasing the value of your home, while more expensive on the front end, may mean going with hardwood. Hardwood is timeless and lasts longer, so it’s a good investment in that case.

And if you really can’t decide, a compromise with hardwood floors and area rugs might be a good solution for you.

If you have questions about the value of your home or want to learn more, don’t hesitate to contact us.